Modifications to factory stocks.

[big honkin jeep]

I've been hanging around this site for quite a while and learned a good bit about Savage rifles and tinkering over the years.
One of my primary interests has always been tinkering and tuning factory parts to perform their best as well as to improve their looks. I've seen some pretty slick as well as some ingenious upgrades come from members here.

Here's a project on a factory Birch stock from a lefty model 11 I did about 10 years ago.
I decided I was going to do a budget classic rifle themed stock on an old model 11 lefty and this is what I came up with.

First I did the obligatory action bedding to the stock using JB weld epoxy. (My bedding of choice because it's cheap, it works, it's tough, it lasts, and it's what I'm familiar with.) Then I refinished it using minwax golden oak stain, added a faux ebony fore end using minwax ebony stain by placing the can in the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket and then placing the forearm into the stain and letting the stock rest against the side of the bucket at an angle. That used gravity to keep the line even and straight and give it time to soak in good and dark. There was a little bleed from the stain in the wood grain which was easily covered by using a white automotive pinstripe and gave the appearance of a white line spacer between the ebony tip and the rest of the stock. The whole thing is sealed with an entire can of minwax spray poly satin. this also helped smooth the little transistion between the wood and the pinstripe. Then I made white line spacers for the grip cap and recoil pad by using a sheetrock mud bucket. I cut a couple of pieces of the white plastic from the bucket into shape and then filed and sanded them and sandwiched them between the grip cap and sandwiched another piece under the recoil pad. I think it made a pretty good improvement to the overall look of the project at the time.

I would love to see some of the things you guys have done to improve performance and aesthetics of your factory stocks.
old past projects are okay as well as current stuff. So lets see em.

[scootergisme]

Great work! It's beautiful.

[Texas10]

I'm impressed with the way you stained the fore end. Simple yet elegant and the results speak for themself. And mud bucket spacers....who'd a thunk it!

[J.Baker]

Great job BHJ - that turned out nice!

Side note: I'm moving this down to the Member Custom Builds board as I think it will get more traffic and is a better fit there than in the Off-Topic.

[celltech]

This is not as pretty as yours, but still is a stock mod. Savage Axis hardwood in .223 The factory (ahem, Boyd's) stock is finished in a very cost effective manner. So why not shoot it in cold epoxy FDE after hitting the grip points in a rock texture paint first. Action is bedded in JB Weld and it had pillars from the factory. And then hack apart the magazine and graft on a pmag for extended shooting pleasure.

[big honkin jeep]

This is not as pretty as yours, but still is a stock mod. Savage Axis hardwood in .223 The factory (ahem, Boyd's) stock is finished in a very cost effective manner. So why not shoot it in cold epoxy FDE after hitting the grip points in a rock texture paint first. Action is bedded in JB Weld and it had pillars from the factory. And then hack apart the magazine and graft on a pmag for extended shooting pleasure.

I'm digging it man especially the p mag adaptation,
The only p mag adaptation I had seen up to this point was a fella that took an AR lower, hacked it apart, and adapted it into his stock using epoxy.
Personally I most often prefer function over aesthetics and adding capacity and grip while looking slick is a winner.
Great job
So lets see em fellas, old projects, new projects, hacked up bubba jobs, to artwork. What have you done to a factory stock?

[OldSchoolShooter]

Looks good!